Workers Burnt In Drilling Accident

Burnt at Work

11.07.2008

A factory explosion caused two employees to suffer burns to their hands and faces in West Yorkshire.

An inquiry has been launched in the incident at Yorkshire Poultry Products, in Bradford, after it was revealed the men had allegedly been using a drilling machine to drill 500 feet down into a natural gas reserve below the premises. Crews found a drilling machine had caught fire after igniting the gas.

The blaze was the result of a gas leak, according to firefighters who attended from Bradford, along with fire safety officers. The injured men did not attend hospital.

David Urpeth from law firm Irwin Mitchell said: "This was an appalling accident at work in which two men have been injured.

"Under health and safety legislation, employers have a duty to carry out risk assessments to ascertain circumstances where employees are exposed to the risk of injury from an industrial accident. Work systems should be implemented to reduce any risks identified.

"In this case, something obviously has gone very wrong resulting in a serious work accident.

"I represent many workers who have been injured or killed in accidents at work."

Mr Urpeth represented over 75 workers and many residents who were injured in the 2001 blast at the Killingholme refinery when over 170 tonnes of liquid petroleum gas caught fire. Conoco-Phillips, who owned the plant, was eventually fined £1m for breaching health and safety regulations after the explosion at its Humber refinery.